thoughts and adventures of a girl with a song.

introducing the monument project.

Hello beautiful people,

Starting in September, I am launching a new writing series called The Monument Project, and I want you to collaborate with me. Anyone and everyone is invited to write to me about a moment in their life that they would like to construct a figurative monument for: where can you pinpoint a significant shift in perspective (about someone, about the city you live in, about your own capabilities or limitations)? What made you discover the thing you're really, really great at? What did you learn about yourself after a month of traveling? When was a time you were truly, very scared? When did you decide (not) to have kids? What was a powerful lesson you learned from your brother? What is the riskiest thing you’ve ever done – and maybe totally pulled off, or totally, really flubbed? What moment made you realize someone wasn’t the one? When did you realize maybe you weren’t depressed anymore? What changed in your life when you moved across the country? How did you decide what program to take in school – or, decide to drop out? I want to hear about it.

My vision is to capture your story’s heart and write a creative piece (either poetry or poetic prose) from your monument – I will not be re-telling your story, I simply want to give a snapshot of those moments of summit when we have either stood on the peak of something great, seen hurricanes coming towards us and have taken shelter, or had a moment of divergence and how we handled the decision making. I will creatively be writing the plaque on this monument in your life, "here lies the place where we pay homage to...."

If you’d like to collaborate with me for The Monument Project, please email your 500 words or less submission to jessjanz @ gmail.com. I will be selecting 12 entries for the month of September, so get them in quick!